Car-door.



Patented Sept; I6, 1002.

U 0 9 N- 1 0 sum a Dd 0 m J fi 00 s m. p m.

(No Model.)

[120672 for; Sin clair- JJohnson.

FFIQEQ C A R D O O R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 709,270, dated September 16, 1902. Application filed December 28, 1901. Serial No. 87,524. (No model.)

T0 ctZl whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SINCLAIR J. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Mon tclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to doors, and more particularly to that class thereof designated as freight-car doors, it especially relating to door-shifting mechanism, the object of the invention being to provide improved mechanism very simple in its construction and operation and by means of which a door, especially when set into the doorway, can be shifted into position quickly and easily to permit it to be moved away from the doorway, the present mechanism being an improvement in part over that shown and described in my contemporaneously-pending application, Serial No. 59,158, filed May 7, 1901, and that shown in my Patent No. 685,379, of October 29, 1900.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in connection with a door supported for outward and upward movement, means effective to move the door outwardly, and thereby upwardly, without the exertion of any power in the direction of the plane of the door.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, Figu re 1 is a view of apart of a car-body, showing this improved door-shifting mechanism. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of a part of such mechanism; and Fig. 3 is a top view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2, the View illustrating the door in its closed and open positions.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

In my previous structures hereinbefore referred to the actuating means or actuator and the connecting means between the door and the hangers or hanger mechanism have been operatively connected by suitable linkage mechanism in the'form of cranks or levers, which have certain advantages and would be preferable in some constructions of doors. I have found, however, that this mechanism can be very much simplified, while still retaining many of the advantages resulting from the organizations hereinbefore referred tothat is to say, by the present mechanism the door-supporting mechanism can still be located above the door, so that all damage thereto is avoided by the backing of wagons against the car,as would be the case were such mechanism located at the bottom or sides of the door. The door can still be shifted upwardly, whereby it toa certain extent locks itself closed by its own weight, so that its tendency is to remain shut, which is not the case when the door is supported at the bottom or sides or when movable outwardly and downwardly; and whereby also when freight becomes displaced oris placed against the door itcan be more readily moved upward than moved down ward,sincesuch downward movement tends to increase the binding effect of the freight, especially as the car-floor prevents all movement of the freight with the door. In practice with doors as ordinarily supported it is frequently necessary to cut into the door in order to get at the freight and release it from its binding position against the door,into which position it may have become wedged. This binding effect is overcome by moving the door upwardly, since such upward movement acts to carry the freight away from the floor and so shift it sufficiently to enable it to be opened, whereas when the door is moved in the opposite direction the freight is only wedged more firmly against the door and the floor of the car. Furthermore, by having the door shiftable outwardly and upwardly the manipulation of the lower end of the door is accomplished with much less labor than is the case when the door is shiftable outwardly and downwardly. Moreover, the advantage of being able to swing the door outwardly at the bottom thereof is still permitted by the present mechanism, so that the freight can be more easily moved away from the door, from all of which it will be seen that, as hereinbefore stated, by the present organization 'of mechanism I am able to, retain many of the important advantages resulting from the organizations of mechanisms heretofore disclosed by me, while at the same time I am also able to very much simplify such mechanism and without in any way increasing the labor necessary to operate the door.

As a preface to a further description of this improved door-shifting mechanism I desire to state that this improvement may be used withall kinds of freight and box cars-such as refrigerator-cars. &c.and can also be used in connection with structures other than freight-cars, if desired, so that the term carbody as used herein and in the claims is not to be construed as a limitation to structures of that class. Furthermore, the various details of mechanism may be more or less modified or departed from without affecting the scope of the invention.

Thisimproved mechanism comprises in a general way a track supported by the carbody, means shiftable thereon to carry the door sidewise or laterally away from the doorway, means connecting such shiftable means with the door and eifective to permit the door to be shifted ou twardand sim ultaneously with such movement moved in the plane thereof, so as to permit suchsidewiseorlateral movement of the door away from the doorway, and actuating means independent of and free of linkage connection with such connecting means and effective to exert power upon the door to force the same outward from its seat, whereby it is moved upward without the exertion of power in the direction of the plane of the door. In one form thereof herein shown and described a track 2 is secured to the car-body 3 above the doorway, and onthis track is located the means by which the door is shifted sidewise and which shiftable means is in the form of hanger mechanism comprising in the present instance a plurality of hangers which may in practice be provided with rollers engaging the track. These hangers are usually so constructed that play thereof on the track is prevented. The hangers 4 5, which in the present instance are shown as two, are located relatively remote to each other, one preferably adjacent to each upper corner of the door, and are connected with such door by suitable connecting means, which may be in the form of crank or rock-shaft mechanism. In the presentinstance this connecting means resembles more nearly rock-shaft mechanism. To facilitate this connection, the door is provided witha pair of plates 6, each having ears 7, to each pair of which ears is bolted or pivoted an arm 8 of the shaft 9, the ends of such shaft extending into the hangers, in which they are suitably journaled. In the form shown one of the hangers is provided with a rigid lateral extension 10, carrying a sleeve 12, in which is located a member or stubshaft 13, resembling in formation and, operation a crank, it being shown maintained in position by a cotter-pin 14' and washer 14. This member, which may be considered as forming one part of the actuator, rotates or rocks in such sleeve and preferably has its lower end 15 bifurcated for the reception of one end of the other part of the actuator, which is in the form of a rock-shaft 16, such rock-shaft having connection with the stubshaft at a point at one side of the plane of the axis of such stub-shaft and pivoted or bolted thereto when a hinge-joint is desired. The two parts of the actuator may, however, be rigid or integral in some instances. The

rock-shaft is secured to the door by a pair of.

keepers 17, the upper one of; which has an elongated slot 18, while the lower one constitutesa pivotal bearing for the shaft. The lower end of the actuator has pivoted thereto an arm or bar 19, provided with a loop or eye 20 for the reception of projections 21 and 22, carried by plates secured to the door and carbody, respectively, and by means of which the rock-shaft is maintained in its shifted positions. The joint between the two parts of the rock-shaft actuator, the axes of which are in parallelism rather than alinement, it will be observed, is located in such position that the door can be swung outward at its bottom, such joint, together with the connection between the door and the hangers, forminga hinge to permitthis swinging movement. The door is provided with a suitable handle 23 for pulling the bottom thereof outward.

For maintaining the door in its position in the doorway suitable flanged brackets 24 are provided, which cooperate with a bar 25, usually flanged, carried on the inside of the door adjacent to the bottom thereof.

When it is desired to shift the door sidewise, the rock-shaft is turned, thereby turning the stub-shaft, the rock-shaft during such operation moving bodily longitudinally in the slots of the keepers and havinga cam action relatively to the door, and thereby shifting the door outward, simultaneously with which the door is moved upward, since the supporting rock-shaft mechanism prevents movement in other directions by the same force which shifts it outward, without, however, the exertion of direct power in the direction of the plane of the door.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the rock-shaft actuator and the rock-shaft connesting or supporting means between the hanger mechanism and the door have no linkage connection, each beingindependent of the otherthat is to say, there is no connection in the form of a lever, crank, or link between the parts of the actuator and the rock-shaft connecting the door and hangers to transmit power from one to the other-the upward movement of the door being efiected solely by turning the rock-shaft actuator in a direction transverse to the plane of the door, whereby, owing to the bodily movement of the rockshaft relatively to the door,such door is moved outward from its seat and at the same time moved upward, since the rock-shaft connecting the door with the hangers not only prevents movement in any other direction, but compels the door to move upward as it is moved outward. In other words, the outward movement depends upon the upward movement of the door, and vice versa.

In the present instance it will be noted that the projection 22 is located nearer the door- IIO way than is the projection 21 on the door. The length of the bar or arm 19 is such that in order to have the projection 21 cooperate therewith it is necessary that the door he moved laterally on its track a certain distance, whereupon on swinging the bar 10 into position to engage the projection 22 the door will be maintained in its partially-open position to permit the ventilation of the car. A number of such projections could be used, or the one shown might be located at various positions on the car and could in practice, if desired, be made adjustable for this purpose.

By means of the present organization I am able to do away with all linkage connections in the form of links, cranks, or levers between the actuator and the rock-shaft connecting means,and thus very much simplify the mechanism, while at the same time retaining many of the important advantages present in my prior structures.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination with a car-body having a doorway and a door, of a track secured to said body above the door; hangers shiftably mounted on said track; ashaft havinga crank connection with one of the hangers and a pivotal bearing adjacent to its lower end; means carried by the door and against which the shaft has a cam-bearing in the motion imparted by the crank operating to shift the door toward andfrom its jamb; and integral means operating to cause the movement given to the door to be applied at both ends to shift the'door outward and upward.

2. The combination with a car-body having a doorway and a door, of a track secured to said body above the door; hanger mechanism shiftably mounted on the track; a shaft having crank connection with said hanger mechanism and a pivotal bearing adjacent to its lower end; means carried by the door and against which the shaft has a cam-bearing in the motion imparted by the crank operating to shift the door toward and away from its jamb; and integral means operating to cause the movement given to the door to be applied at both ends to shift the door outward and upward.

3. The combination with a car-body having a doorway and a door, of a track secured to said body above the door; hanger mechanism shiftably mounted on the track; a jointed shaft having a crank connection with said hanger mechanism and a pivotal bearing adjacent to its lower end; means carried by the door and against which theshaft has a cambearing in the motion imparted by the crank operating to shift the door toward and from its jamb; and integral means operating to cause the movement given the door to apply at both ends to shift the door outward and upward.

4c. The combination with a car-body having a doorway and a door, of a track secured to said body above the door; hanger mechanism shiftably mounted on the track; a shaft having a crank connected with a part movable on said track with the hanger mechanism and a pivotal bearing adjacent to its lower end; means carried by the door and against which the shaft has a cam-bearing in the motion imparted by the crank operating to shift the door toward and from its jamb; and integral means operating to cause the movement given the door to be applied at both ends to shift the door outward and upward.

5. The combination with a car-body having a doorway, of a door therefor; two independent mechanisms located and operative in directions transverse to each other and free of linkage connection, one a mechanism connecting the door with the car-body adjacent to each end of such door for simultaneous movement of both ends outward and upward, and the other an actuating mechanism having a cam action relative to the door and effective to move the door outwardly, the organization being such that on the movement of the door outwardly by the actuating means it is moved upward.

6. The combination with acar-bodyhaving a doorway, of a door therefor; a pair of rockshaft mechanisms located and operative in directions transverse to each other and free of linkage connection, one supporting the door adjacent to each end thereof for simultaneous movement of both ends outwardly and upwardly and the other having a cam action relative to the door and effective to move the door outwardly, the organization being such that on the movement of the door outwardly by the actuating means, it is simultaneously moved upward.

7. The combination with a car-body having a doorway, of a door set therein; a track carried by said body; hangers mounted on. said track; two independent mechanisms located and operative in directions transverse to each other and free of linkage connection, one connecting the door adjacent to each end thereof with said hangers for simultaneous movement of both ends outwardly and upwardly and the other supported on one of said hangers and having a cam action relative to the door operative by power applied in a direction transverse to the plane of the door, thereby to shift the door outwardly from its seat; the organization being such that on the movement of the door outwardly it is simultaneously moved upward, and without the exertion of power in the direction of the plane of the door.

8. The combination with a car-body having a doorway of a door therefor; a track supported on said body; means shiftable on said track; means connecting the door with said shiftable means for movement outwardly and upward; a rock-shaft actuator secured to the door and having during its rocking movement an appreciable bodily movement relatively to the door, thereby to move such door outwardly, the organization being such that shaft extends and against which the shaft during its outward movement the door is moved upward.

9. The combination with a car-body having a doorway and a door fitting flush therein, of a track secured to said body above the door; hangers shiftably mounted on said track; a jointed shaft having a crank connection with one of the hangers, and a pivotal bearing adjacent to its lower end; a slotted keeper secured to the door and through which said has a cam-bearing in the motion imparted by the crank operating to shift the door toward and from its jamb; and an integral shaft operative to cause the movement given the door to be applied at both ends to shift the door outwardly and upward. SIN CLAIR J. JOHNSON. Witnesses:

CHAS. LYON RUSSELL, H. OLVARD O. HALL. 

